“You six!” Magdalina barked at Stefan, Delmare, Odette, Theo, Kiara, and Alexei. They reared backward at the booming sound of her voice. “For the gods’ sakes, find somewhere to store those stones where Gabriella won’t be able to find them. It was a foolish thing, to use them in this battle. You’re lucky you still have possession of them. They must be hidden immediately.”
The girls scrambled to grab their weapons, and hurried out of the Grand Foyer with the boys in tow. Emma’s sword remained on the table— she wasn’t willing to let it go, and everyone knew it by the fiery look on her face.
Magdalina patted her hair down, which was slicked with dirt and blood from the battle, and said, “I must become presentable, and find those nobles we’ve been speaking of. This is an opportunity we can’t afford to waste.”
She bustled out with all the fury of an incoming storm. Once the door shut behind her, Emma erupted. Her chair fell against the floor as she jumped up and slammed her hands down on the table. Tygrys fluttered off her shoulder with a sharp whine.
“Really, Ethan?” she seethed. “How could you?”
I remained sitting and replied, “It is the only option before us.”
“You and Lady Magdalina decided this all on your own, huh?” Emma hissed. “Didn’t bother to consult me on it.”
“I didn’t need to. I knew already you would say yes.”
“For you, not for myself,” Emma spat. “I thought you had given up your ambitions for the crown. I thought you changed.”
“Of course I have changed!” I shouted. “This is not a choice I would make unless there was any other way!”
“And what if I don’t want to do this?” She took a step back.
“You said yes to my hand in marriage. Is that all forfeit now?”
“I agreed to be yourwife, not your queen.”
“You did once,” I reminded her. “Can you not do it again?”
Emma bit her lip and turned away from me. “Losing the crown almost killed us. What will it take in order to gain it?”
I paused. This was the part I didn’t like confessing. “Since we didn’t win the King’s Contest, the Circle will require us to go through a ceremony, to prove we are worthy of the crown. It is called theWersa da Lza, or the Trial of Tears.”
“And what must we do?” Her tone was flat, accusatory.
“We will be given a nectar of the gods, which we must drink. It will cause us to fall into a trance. We must face our greatest fears, and our darkest inclinations. Most fae fail to complete the Trial, and lose their minds after the ceremony is done.”
“How many?”
“The statistics on the ceremony are few, but conclusive. TheWersa da Lzahas only been performed six times in the history of Malovia. Out of all those times, ninety percent of the participants have failed, and been driven insane by the nectar. Only one couple has passed the challenge, and risen to become king and queen.”
I cleared my throat. “The ceremony proves that whoever can pass it is willing to put everything on the line for Malovia, even their own sanity. Therefore, whosoever passes the trial is worthy, because few would dare to drink a nectar of the gods that would, most likely, cause you to lose your own mind— even at the opportunity of gaining the crown.”
She blinked. “So you’re asking me to bargain our sanity— not just mine, but yours, too— in an attempt to take Gabby down.”
“If there was any other choice—”
“Like hell!” She cut me off. “What if we fail the Trial, and I lose my mind? Then we’ll never unite the Crystals of Harmony, and the fae will bedoomed. This is too great a risk.”
“Everything we do is a risk. The greatest events of our time are all tied together. We cannot merely focus on uniting the Crystals, the same as we cannot only focus our attention on ending Gabby’s reign. For the fae to survive, we must do both.”
Emma gave a skeptical noise. “At what cost?”
“Iknowwe can pass,” I insisted. “I have faith in us.”
“We won’t come out the same!” she cried. It speared me through to hear the pain in her voice as she spoke. “I’ve given up my life for Malovia. My dreams, my goals, and it seems like it’s never enough! Hell, I can’t count the amount of times I’ve nearly lost you, or lost my own life in the process! This country just continues to take and take, and I’m not sure I have much more to give.”
I stood from my chair. I took her chin in my hand gently. “You are stronger than you believe yourself to be. If you weren’t, I wouldn’t have chosen you as my mate.”
“This isjustlike the King’s Contest! Once again, you’re springing a crown on me at thelast minute!” Emma pushed me away. The gesture didn’t hurt— I know she was merely reacting.
